Issue with PSA upper

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Issue with PSA upper

Posted: 6/19/2017 8:28:01 PM EDT

Hey Guys,
I just bought a Palmetto State Armory midlength melonite lined barreled upper receiver. It came in the other day and I slapped it on my Anderson lower. Right away I noticed the charging handle (which I got off my sig) was hard to pull back and seemed to be rubbing on the upper receiver. I could only pull the charging handle back if I adjusted the rifle against my body and pulled very hard. I have tried the upper on multiple lowers and It still has this issue. It seems to me like it could just be the upper receiver. Could something be out of spec in the upper or does it need to be broken in? Also the charging handle is easy to pull back in my sig upper. Its frustrating cause I have heard very good things about PSA and hope I don't have a lemon. Any advice would be appreciated!

Posted: 6/19/2017 8:30:08 PM EDT

[#1]

Contact PSA

Posted: 6/19/2017 8:33:39 PM EDT

[#2]

Quoted:
Hey Guys,
I just bought a Palmetto State Armory midlength melonite lined barreled upper receiver. It came in the other day and I slapped it on my Anderson lower. Right away I noticed the charging handle (which I got off my sig) was hard to pull back and seemed to be rubbing on the upper receiver. I could only pull the charging handle back if I adjusted the rifle against my body and pulled very hard. I have tried the upper on multiple lowers and It still has this issue. It seems to me like it could just be the upper receiver. Could something be out of spec in the upper or does it need to be broken in? Also the charging handle is easy to pull back in my sig upper. Its frustrating cause I have heard very good things about PSA and hope I don't have a lemon. Any advice would be appreciated!

View Quote

did you lube it?

Posted: 6/19/2017 8:35:56 PM EDT

[#3]

Yes

Posted: 6/19/2017 8:36:55 PM EDT

[#4]

I actually already did. The lady on the phone did not know what I was talking about and said they can't replace the upper. They can only refund or repair it. Honestly very disappointed in their customer service.

Posted: 6/19/2017 8:51:41 PM EDT

[#5]

Quote History

Quoted:
I actually already did. The lady on the phone did not know what I was talking about and said they can't replace the upper. They can only refund or repair it. Honestly very disappointed in their customer service.

View Quote

did you put the charging handle in the upper without the BCG and see if it slides back and forth smoothly?

did you put the BCG in the upper without the charging handle and see if it goes in and out of battery smoothly?

Posted: 6/19/2017 8:54:31 PM EDT

[#6]

Quote History

Quoted:
did you put the charging handle in the upper without the BCG and see if it slides back and forth smoothly?

did you put the BCG in the upper without the charging handle and see if it goes in and out of battery smoothly?

View Quote

Posted: 6/19/2017 8:58:55 PM EDT

[#7]

Not sure why it's disappointing that they will either refund or repair. Good solutions. I had to send one back to them once and they fixed the issue and sent it right back. That's all I wanted. If you really don't want it fixed, take the refund. Then comma you can buy a new one.

Posted: 6/19/2017 11:05:20 PM EDT

[#8]

Are the Sig charging handles different spec? Have you tried a Mil-spec CH?

Posted: 6/19/2017 11:09:55 PM EDT

[#9]

Quote History

Quoted:
Are the Sig charging handles different spec? Have you tried a Mil-spec CH?

View Quote

This. Try a standard charging handle just to rule that out.

Posted: 6/19/2017 11:36:22 PM EDT

[#10]

Try the CH and BCG separate from one another to see if you can isolate the issue.

Not really sure what you're wanting from PSA if it's not a repair (swapping out the bad upper for a good one) or refund.

Posted: 6/20/2017 9:08:30 PM EDT

[#11]

Whose BCG are you using?

Does the bolt move freely when off the lower?

Does it lock up correctly?

Does the charging handle move freely in the upper without a bolt?

I am having a hard time imagining what could be causing the problem you are describing.

Posted: 6/20/2017 9:51:57 PM EDT

[#12]

Try a standard charging handle and the bcg in another upper if possibe. Sounds like the same issue I had with an Aero upper receiver. Sent it in and the upper was slightly out of spec. Received a new upper receiver and it was spot on.

Posted: 6/21/2017 10:30:28 PM EDT

[#13]

I just received a Psa 16" freedom pistol length 300 bo rifle kit. It is advertised as phosphate finish with nitride bore. From what i can tell it not treated with anything except parker outside. I even emailed them and they assured me it was phosphate exterior and nitride bore. So double check that. I haven't decided what to do yet keep it or send it back

Posted: 6/22/2017 12:43:38 AM EDT

[#14]

Parkerize=Phosphate. Same thing so I dont know what you are expecting. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkerizing.
OP try a different CH and BCG, you should have ones for each upper anyways. If you still have an issues make as said try the CH and bolt separately. PSA will repair the issue but their CS is spotty at best. I sent an upper in for repairs and it took over a month but it was fixed and in the end I am happy with it. We deal with PSA's crap CS for the killer deals.

Posted: 6/22/2017 5:01:56 PM EDT

[#15]

Quote History

Quoted:
I just received a Psa 16" freedom pistol length 300 bo rifle kit. It is advertised as phosphate finish with nitride bore. From what i can tell it not treated with anything except parker outside. I even emailed them and they assured me it was phosphate exterior and nitride bore. So double check that. I haven't decided what to do yet keep it or send it back

View Quote

The whole barrel must be dipped in order to nitride, inside and out.

The exterior should be glossy black.

Posted: 6/23/2017 9:25:22 PM EDT

[#16]

Pull it off of the lower receiver and see how it operates. If it's binding, try it without the CH. Try the CH alone. Try a different bolt.

I've been very happy with PSA service and parts. Figure out what's binding. Look at it and problem solve.

Posted: 6/24/2017 8:48:05 AM EDT

[#17]

Quote History

Quoted:

The whole barrel must be dipped in order to nitride, inside and out.

The exterior should be glossy black.

View Quote

My nitride barrels are sort of shiny with a smoother looking finish than plain Parkerizing. It's easy to tell, especially side by side if you have one of each.

Posted: 6/24/2017 12:05:07 PM EDT

[#18]

Quote History

Quoted:

My nitride barrels are sort of shiny with a smoother looking finish than plain Parkerizing. It's easy to tell, especially side by side if you have one of each.

View Quote

Here's a PSA parked FN barrel vs a Freedom nitride barrel.

Attached File

Posted: 6/24/2017 12:45:37 PM EDT

[#19]

+1 on nitride being a "full barrel" finish...not just the bore.

Regarding the CH as others have said...

1) Check to see if the CH is difficult to pull with the upper off the lower (i.e. eliminate the lower)
2) Check to see if the CH is bent by using a different CH (i.e. eliminate the CH)
3) Check to see if the BCG is binding by using a different BCG (i.e. eliminate the BCG)

If all of the above doesn't address the issue...and you've lubed the upper / CH / BCG...

Then the only thing that is left is the upper.

My experience with PSA uppers...they're very gritty and need a lot of lube and use to "smooth out".

Posted: 7/26/2017 8:01:48 PM EDT

[#20]

Thanks guys for the reply. I apologize for just now getting to reply. Anyway I cycled the bolt several times and applied a lot of grease and eventually it got smother (like it should be). I think the melonite finish on it was just a little too thick and that is why it caused it to lock up.

Posted: 7/26/2017 11:19:50 PM EDT

[#21]

How is the melonite too thick? I thought it was a chemical process on the surface that didn't build up anything.

Posted: 7/27/2017 8:05:10 AM EDT

[#22]

FWIW the last upper I bought was a PSA 8" with a PSA premium BCG & Strike Ind. handle.

The BCG seemed to drag inside the upper, even after lubing. Different handles, same results.

But moving it to a 16" PSA upper I had ran fine, zero resistance. It happens.

Posted: 7/29/2017 10:25:13 PM EDT

[#23]

Quote History

Quoted:
Thanks guys for the reply. I apologize for just now getting to reply. Anyway I cycled the bolt several times and applied a lot of grease and eventually it got smother (like it should be). I think the melonite finish on it was just a little too thick and that is why it caused it to lock up.

View Quote

Melonite/nitride does not add to dimensions. It is a process that alters the base metal, not a coating.

Posted: 8/5/2017 10:24:42 AM EDT

[#24]

My psa had trouble when I first bought it. I was having fte s like crazy. At one point, I really had to yank back the ch because it was stuck and my gun was inoperable. Turns out the gas rings were chewed up for some reason. Maybe there was a burr, I'm not sure. After that first rough range trip, I replaced the gas rings, which psa sent me. I still had fte issues because I was shooting suppressed out of a shortbarrel with carbine buffer. I resolved that with an h2 buffer and now all is good!

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Issue with PSA upper

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